Machine for topping beets.



H. RUSSELL. MACHINE FOR TOPPING BEETS. APPLICATION FILED MAR. I3. 1915.

imma. Patented D@@.28,191:..

2 SHEETS`SHEET l.

Witnesses H. S. RUSSELL.

MACHINE FOR TOPPING BEETS. APPLICATION FILED MARA I3, I9I5.

Ll, .Putemed Dec. 28, 191.5.

narran spaans narrante oratori.

\ HELRAM S. RUSSELL, F IPRG'VU, UTAH;

MACHINE FOR. TPPKNG- REEVES.

adsense.

Y Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented'lDecu 2S, '19155.

Application filed. March 13, 1915. Serial No. 14,136. i

thereby to hold the beets suspended while being elevated to cuttingmeans.

A further object is to provide means whereby should the beets beheld too high, while approaching the cutting means, they will be depressed automatically thus to remove the top .or crown portion of the beets from the path of the cutter so that only the tops will be severed.

Another object is to provide supplemental means for gripping the beets independently of the tops so as to hold them after the tops have been removed, whereby the top or crown portion of each beet can be cut odi, there being a novel form of gage for regulating the size of the severed portion so that waste of the beets will be reduced to the minimum.

lilith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description.y

proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

ln the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention Y Vhas been shown.

ln said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view taken in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the rear portion of the machine, the elevator being broken away. Fig. 4C is an enlarged side elevation of the beet gripping means, the cutters and the gages. Fig. 5 is a transverse section through one flight of one of the beet gripping aprons. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the shaft of the rear cutting element.

Referring to the figures by characters ofl of reference 1 designates inclined beams forming part `of a frame 2 which is supported at lts yrear end by a revoluble axle 3, this axle in turn being secured to and supported by ground engaging wheels ll. 'lhe front portion of the frame may be support- 1 ed by one or more wheels 5 adjustable angularly to raise and lower the frame, a bar being provided for this purpose. A contlnuous passage is formed between the beams 1 as shown particularly in Fig-2. lhe frame 2 has forwardly extending arms 6 or the like the front end portions of which carry sheaves 7 while extending forwardly from these arms are -forwardly diverging gathering fingers 8 of any preferred form. Brackets 9 are extended outwardly from the sides-of the beams 1 and carry guide sheaves 10 and additional guide sheaves 11 are carried by brackets 12 outstanding from the arms 6. Additional sheaves are supported under the, beams 1 close to the inner sides thereof at regular intervals, lthese sheaves being indicated .at 13. The various sheaves 7, 10, 11 and 13 are engaged by endless belts 14 preferably made of heavy rope, the inner flights of the' belts being parallel and close together so as to constitute yieldable top gripping means. The rearrnost portions of the belts engage actuating sheaves 15 secured to the upper ends of shafts 16 which, in turn, are journaled in the frame 2 and are providedfat their lower ends with bevel gears 17 meshing with gears 18 on the revoluble axle 3.

'llhe shafts 16 are disposed at right angles to the plane of movement of the belts 1d and one of these shafts is provided, at itsl lower end, withA a sheave 17 designed toY transmit" motion through a belt 18 to a smaller sheave 19 secured to an upstanding shaft 20 the upper end of which is located below the plane of movement of the belts 1d and is provided with a rotary cutter 21 preferably in the form of a saw. rl`his saw is located under the rear end portion of the pass between the belts 14.

Each of the shafts 16 has a cylinder 22 mounted for rotation therewith and each of these cylinders is engaged by an endless belt 23 likewise mounted upon a cylinder t supported by the frame 2 .in front of and parallel with the cylinder 22. Each of these endless belts is provided, upon its outer face, with slats 25 parallel to each other. each slat having a tl-shaped spring 26 connected thereto and to a clamping-strip 2i', the

en hij spring 26 serving to press the clamping strip Q7 away'- from the slats 25 but such movement being limited by a flexible restraining element 23, as shown in Fig. 5. lhe inner 'flights of the two endless belts are substantially parallel and are supported in planes passing upwardly through the inner flights of the belts 14. 'lhe 'cylinders 24 are mounted to rotate lcosely on their shafts 10 and one of these shafts has a cutting element in the form. of a circular saw or 'the like. This shaft to which the saw is attached is provided with a sheave 3l at its lower end, the said sheave receiving motion through an endless belt 32 from a'sheave 33 correspond f ing with sheave 19 and which is likewise secured to the saw shaft 20. Thus it will be seen that when the apparatus is set in mo tion the saw shaft 20 `will be driven through 20 belt 18, while the saw shaft 29 will be driven from shaft 20 through the belt 3Q. lt is to be understood that the shaft 20 is not to be located where it will in any way choke the passage between the inner flights of the endless aprons 23. For example, and as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, this shaft may be extended close to one of the cylinders l5 and between the flights of one of the endless aprons.

Arranged underneath and close to the inner sides of the beams l are longitudinally extending deleeting strips 34, the upper-end portions of which are arranged at angles to 4'the lower portions, as shown at 35, these as angularly .disposed portions being located close to the front cutter 30. Gripping rods 36 extend under the cutter 30 at the sides of the path along which the beets travel and arranged at the upper or rear ends of these 40 mounted, as at 38, and connected as by means of a. link 39, to an adjusting lever l0 which can. be locked in any position desired. This gage plateextends at its free end close to the rear cutter 21.

The machine constituting the' present invention is adapted-to straddlepa row of beets and the lingers 8 will gather the to-ps lof the beets so that they will enter between the inner flights of the ro-pe beltsll where they will be gripped with suilicient force to cause the beets to be pulled out of the ground from which they have been previously` loosened in any preferred manner. beets will hang suspended by their tops .as

they move upwardly between the inner flights of the belts 14 and the deilecting por- A tions 35' of the. strips 34 will operate to push downwardly on the beets so as to remove the so crown portions of the beets from in front of the cutter 30. Consequently as the beets are carried upwardly the tops will be brought against the cutter 30 while the body of each beet 4will be received between the endless a5 belts 23, any remaining tops on the beet begripping rods is a gage v plate 37 hingedly aac-idees ing held between the rods 36. As the body portion of theibeet passes between the belts 23, the strips 27 will vield inwardly so that the beet will be yieldingly held and 'thus carried rearwardly toward the rear cutter 2l. Should the cro-wn portion ofthe beet project upwardly too far above the belts 23, it would be pushed downwardly by the gage 37 so that a predetermined thickness of beet will be cut olf ofrthe top thereof by the cutter 2l.A After the tops and the crown portion have been removed from the beet, said beet is dropped onto an elevator indicated generally at 4l and which serves to convey it to any suitable point.

By means of the lever Al() the gage 37 can be adjusted upwardly or downwardly, thus to vary the thickness of the crown portion to be cut ofi".

What is claimed is 85 l. A machine for topping beets, including opposed endless flexible top gripping elements, endless llexible beet gripping elements thereunder and spaced to receive a beet therebetween, means extending between the top and beet gripping'elements for severing the tops from the beet, and deecting means in the path of the beet for directing the beet downwardly out of line with the cutting element.

2. A machine for topping beets, including spaced flexible top gripping elements in the form of endless belts, spaced flexible beet gripping elements in the form of endless belts, cutting elements interposed between the gripping elements at different distances from the top gripping elements, means for actuating the gripping elements in unison to convey the tops of a beet against the first cutting element and to convey the beet against the second cutting element to remove the crown portion thereof. y

3. A. machine for topping beets, including endless flexible top gripping elements, endless flexible beet gripping elements thereun- 11d der, said elements being arranged in pairs, means for actuating the elements simultaneously to convey a beet" and its tops in one direction, a cutting element interposed between said pairs for removingthe tops from the beet, a cutting element interposed be tween said pairs for removing the crown portion from the beet, means for deflecting beets downwardly below the first cutting element, and adjustable means for regulating the thickness of the crown portion removed by the second cutting element.

4. A machine for topping beets, including a pair of flexible endless top gripping elements, a pair of endless `flexible beet grip- 1215 ping elements thereunder, said last named elements including belts, spring controlled strips movable with the belts for engaging the beets yieldingly, means for limiting the movements of the strips away from the belts, lee

weones and a cutting element interposed between the pairs ot gripping elements tor severing the tops from the beets. i

5. A niachine for topping beets, including a pair oi' Flexible endless top gripping `ele ments, a pair of endless flexible beetJ gripping elements thereunder, each ot said last nientioned elements including a belt, springs upon the outer faces of the belt, beet engaging strips connected to the springs and normally pressed outwardly thereby, nieans for limiting the outward movement et the strips relative the belt, and means for severing the tops held by the top gripping elements 'troni the beet held by the beet gripping ele niente., f

6. A machine tor topping beets, including a pair ot `tlexible endless top gripping elenients, a pair of endless flexible beet gripping elements thereunder, each ot said last mentioned elements including a. belt, springs upon the outer tane of the belt, beet engaging strips connected to the springs and normally pressed outwardly thereby, means lor limiting the outward movement oit the strips relative to the belt', and means tor severing the tops held by the top gripping elements :trein t 1e beet held by the beet gripping elements, said gripping elements being movable in unison to feed the beets against the severing elements.

r'. il. machine lor topping beets, including a pair et tlexible endless top gripping elements, a pair oit endless Flexible beet gripping elements thereunder, each ot said iast f.

beet held by the beet gripping elements, said gripping elements being inovablepin unison; to leed the beets against the severing elements, and a gage adjustably mounted adjacent the cutting elenient for delleeting the erovvn portion et' each beet downwardly relatii'e to tbe cutting element.

8.. A niaeliine :tor topping beets, ineludinf1 means for gripping the tops of a beet and. conveying the beet upwardly and rearn arelly, means iter gripping the body ot the suspend ed beet and conveying it upwardly ann rearwardly with the tops, means tor severing the tops troni the body oft' the beet during such rnoif'ernent, and means for subsequently sev ering the crown portion of the beet trom the body.

Atestimony that elairn the lorego'ne my own, l lia-ye hereto albned rny sign ure in the presence ot two witnesses.

HlRAlt/.l S,

il. A., Moltnfrosni,

ll?. A. Molnirosn. 

